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| Blue Natural Capital | |
|---|---|
| Name | Blue Natural Capital |
| Caption | Coastal and marine ecosystems |
| Region | Global |
| Type | Concept |
Blue Natural Capital is the stock of aquatic and marine ecosystems, species, and abiotic elements that provide flow of goods and services to societies and markets. It links coastal wetlands, coral reefs, seagrass meadows, mangroves, estuaries, pelagic fisheries and deep‑sea habitats with institutions such as the United Nations programs, NGOs like World Wildlife Fund and The Nature Conservancy, research centers such as Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and policy venues including the European Union and the United States. The concept underpins initiatives by actors like the World Bank, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Food and Agriculture Organization, and national agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Environment Agency (England).
Blue Natural Capital defines the inventory of marine and freshwater natural assets across jurisdictions including coastal zones administered by entities such as California, Queensland, Andhra Pradesh, and transboundary waters governed through mechanisms like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Nairobi Convention. It scopes biotic elements such as species catalogued by institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and abiotic components studied at facilities like Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, integrating valuation frameworks promoted by organizations like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Global Environment Facility. The scope spans services accounted in programs led by Convention on Biological Diversity and financing mechanisms piloted by the Green Climate Fund.
Key components include vegetation systems such as mangroves of Sundarbans, seagrass beds in Florida Bay, and kelp forests of Monterey Bay; coral systems like the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Triangle; estuarine complexes exemplified by the Chesapeake Bay and Danube Delta; pelagic realms including the Sargasso Sea and North Atlantic Drift; and deep sea provinces such as the Mid‑Atlantic Ridge and Clarion‑Clipperton Zone. Faunal elements encompass commercially important taxa managed by agencies like International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and biodiversity icons catalogued by museums such as the Natural History Museum, London. Abiotic resources include sediment sinks studied at Plymouth Marine Laboratory and blue carbon stocks measured using protocols from IPCC guidelines.
Valuation methods draw on models developed by teams at University of Cambridge, London School of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara, and Stockholm Environment Institute, using techniques like avoided cost applied in cases such as New Orleans flood protection, replacement cost used for infrastructure projects in Rotterdam, and market pricing for fisheries tracked by the Marine Stewardship Council. Non‑market valuation uses stated preference methods employed in studies for Galápagos Islands tourism and revealed preference methods in analyses for Cape Cod. Accounting frameworks include the System of Environmental‑Economic Accounting piloted by United Nations Statistics Division and corporate disclosure standards promoted by organizations like Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures.
Management approaches integrate protected area designations such as those in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, fisheries co‑management models observed in Alaska and Iceland, and restoration programs exemplified by Coral Restoration Foundation and mangrove replanting in Bangladesh. Tools include spatial planning frameworks from NOAA and European Environment Agency, market instruments like blue bonds issued in initiatives linked to World Bank structuring, certification schemes by Marine Stewardship Council and Aquaculture Stewardship Council, and community stewardship models practiced by indigenous groups recognized under mechanisms like United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Governance draws on international law such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, regional agreements like the Barcelona Convention and Oslo‑Paris Convention, and multilateral policy instruments including the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. National implementation occurs through agencies like Environment Agency (England), NOAA, Ministry of Environment, Japan, and legal regimes such as the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. Financial governance engages institutions like the International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank which underwrite blue economy programs, while litigation and jurisprudence have been shaped in courts such as the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Threats include overexploitation driven by fleets registered in ports like Piraeus and Busan, habitat loss seen in Mississippi River Delta subsidence, pollution incidents such as Deepwater Horizon and acidification trends linked to emissions tracked under the Paris Agreement. Invasive species pathways documented in cases like Great Lakes zebra mussels, climate impacts observed in bleaching events at the Great Barrier Reef, and governance failures exposed by scandals surrounding firms like Trafigura compound risk. Challenges also include financing gaps noted by World Bank reports, data limitations tackled by consortia like Global Ocean Observing System, and equity issues highlighted by Small Island Developing States.
Notable applications include blue carbon projects in the Sundarbans and Blue Carbon Initiative partnerships involving UNEP and Conservation International, marine spatial planning in Belgium and Australia, fishery reforms in Iceland and New Zealand, and coral reef insurance piloted for the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. Urban resilience projects integrating coastal defenses from firms advising Rotterdam and academic partners at Delft University of Technology showcase nature‑based solutions, while philanthropic and public finance instruments have been trialed by entities like Bloomberg Philanthropies and European Investment Bank to capitalize blue natural assets.
Category:Environmental economics